


How did I become the weakest link in an army of chains?

by Multifandom_damnation



Category: 6 Underground (2019)
Genre: Accidental Bonding, Affectionate Insults, Aftermath of Violence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Codenames, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Injury Recovery, Post-Canon, Self-Esteem Issues, Team Dynamics, Touch-Starved, Unresolved Emotional Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22143478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_damnation/pseuds/Multifandom_damnation
Summary: One isn't sure why he went back for Four on the yacht. He broke his own rule without a thought, and even later, when they're back home and safe, he's forced to wonder why he did it.Maybe it's just harder to leave someone behind when you're watching them die slowly in front of you than it is when they're being chased across skyscraper rooftops above you.
Relationships: Four | Billy & One (6 Underground)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 260





	How did I become the weakest link in an army of chains?

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my god... you guys... I love 6 Underground. Why is there hardly any content for it?? I'm desperate! But that's alright, I'm going to make my own content, very, very slowly. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this! It was a fun write, and considering what little bit I know about the movie, I'm actually pretty proud of this. Thanks for reading x

One wasn’t sure why he went back for Four. 

At any other time in his life, he wouldn’t have even considered it, but maybe it was the way Four screamed into the coms and tried so hard to be brave while someone bigger than Four was beating the life out of him.

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to find. Maybe he thought that Four would be running around the slick surface of the boat, somehow managing to dodge the hands of Rovach’s men in that supernatural way he has, or maybe he had gotten away and One had raced across the ship for nothing, or maybe he had gotten the higher ground and was just screaming into the coms because he was scared, not because he was hurt.

But never in a million years did he think he’d see Four on the ground, blood dripping from his nose and his spilt lip, his face a darkened mess of instantly blooming bruises, his arm cradled painfully tight to his chest as he could do nothing but lay there and weakly hold his left arm above him for a little bit of cover as the much larger man standing over him mercilessly beat him to death with a wicked glint in his eye and a cruel curve to his lips.

One took care of him quickly, and the look of shock on Four’s face was almost as painful to see as him getting beaten, but One helped him to his feet and held him on one side as he hobbled to where the others were already waiting by the chopper. One hurried up without a thought, but it was only when Seven was swearing behind him once he made it to the safety of the helicopter did he freeze and look down the ladder at Four, who was slowly and painstakingly climbing the ladder with one hand as fast as he could, his face pale, his eyes blown wide, his mouth hanging open a little bit with the pain. One felt his heart drop down to his toes, and for a quick second, he considered jumping down there and helping him up, and least bracing him from behind to make sure he didn’t fall the long way back down to the deck of the ship, but Three and Five were already leaning down and calling out, and together they pulled a shaking and fearful Four onto the chopper.

He hadn’t even sat down before Five was looking over him, and Seven slowly helped him out of the wetsuit. He winced and groaned with every touch, but bit his tongue to stop from crying out. “His right arms broken,” she announced when they had taken off and they started to sail over the glittering water to catch up with Rovach’s speedboat. “His ribs, too. Probably some other stuff, very likely a concussion, but there’s not much I can do until we get back to base.”

“Is there anything you can do for him?” Seven asked as he watched Four’s eyes flutter closed and his head fall back against the vibrating metal wall of the chopper. “Pain killers or something?”

Five shook her head. “I’ve got jackshit. I’ve got some water though, but go slow.”

Two took the water from her and held it to Four’s lips and tipped it back enough that the flow of water could trickle out slowly, but most of it poured down his chin to splash into the wetsuit still pooled around his legs.

“Can you survive long enough to get back to the plane?” Three asked, and it was a rude way of putting it, but it was the thought on everyone’s mind.

Four opened his eyes just long enough to wink at Three and for the corner of his mouth to turn slightly upwards. “You know I’ve been through worse.”

“We’ll take care of this fast,” One interrupted as he saw Rovach’s boat below them. “Battle faces, everyone. We’re not done here yet.”

Pushing Rocach out of the helicopter was sweet, and it even managed to get a small smile out of Four, but they didn’t talk the whole way back to the plane. Four usually filled in the silence with snide comments and crude jokes, but he was too tired to even open his eyes, so until the white gleam of the plane came into view, there was no sound but the roaring of the helicopter blades slicing through the air.

When they landed, One was the first out of the chopper, followed by Two and Three, who were always together since their time in Vegas. Five and Seven stayed back to help Four climb out of the chopper, and they stayed close by in case he needed them, but they stayed far enough away not to crowd him. One knew him pretty well, and he knew that the last thing Four needed right now was another hit to his already wounded ego.

One focused on flying the plane back to the base rather than worrying about Four- it wasn’t his place to worry, only to lead and protect. Besides, he knew that the others were taking care of him.

About an hour and a half into their flight, Three approached and joined him in the cockpit. He was pretty worse for wear too, but he was nowhere near as bad as Four was. Besides, Three enjoyed the pain. He liked the rush it gave him. “How’s he doing?” One asked absently as he kept his eyes on the lights and leavers on the dashboard in front of him.

“He looks like shit,” Three said. “You should see his chest- it’s just one giant bruise. When Five pressed on it to check for broken ribs, he screamed and passed out, and now Seven’s with him until he wakes up. He should be dead. He looks it, anyway.”

“Well, the good news is that he’s not,” One bit back as he chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Not yet, at least. Let’s just hope that lasts until we get back to base, yeah?”

Instead of answering, Three just watched him, until he sighed through his nose, muttered something unsavoury under his breath in a language One didn’t know, and left him alone in the cockpit.

He must have passed the message on to the rest of the Ghosts that he didn’t want to be disturbed because for the rest of the flight, nobody else came to join him in the cockpit, and that was the way he preferred it, though that also meant that he didn’t get any updates on Four’s condition, and he wasn’t about to break his code and show them he cared, was he?

One let everyone else take care of Four when they landed back at base, and he stayed out of the way when Five took care of him- he even tried to ignore Four’s screaming and his cries and the low moaning that came from the broken down plane that served as a med-bay until it eventually tapered off into silence.

It was much, much later when One decided to go and visit Four- so much later that the sun had set long ago and the stifling night had been replaced by a cool breeze. He ran into Seven on his way out, and they met in the middle of the hallway. “Oh, One- hows it going?”

“I’d be lying if I told you that I’m fantastic,” One said. “I’m going to head into the med-bay. Anything I should know before I go?”

Thinking silently for a moment, Seven crossed his arms over his chest before he came up with something to say. “It’s pretty bad. Apparently, the worst Five has ever seen him, which is saying something. But I don’t know, I haven’t been around for very long. He’s not doing great, but Five says that he’ll be fine. It’ll take a while though.”

“Good,” One said. “Here I was thinking that you were going to give me bad news, but that’s a lot better than I was expecting. I’ll keep you posted.”

One was about to push past one and enter the med-bay, but Seven grabbed him by the arm and pulled him backwards. Not forcefully, not roughly, but just enough to get One’s attention. “Go easy on him,” Seven said quietly, shooting a strange look over his shoulder at the closed door to the med-bay. “Remember, his body isn't the only thing that took a beating today.”

Seven let go of him and waited for One to nod at him before he stuck his hands in his pockets and walked down the hallway. Now a little sceptical, instead of walking into the med-bay, One slowly pushed open the door and listened around the corner.

Immediately, he was met by bickering. “A beer is the last thing you need right now,” Five was saying, and One could picture her with her hands on her hip and her lips turned down into a frown. “You need to rest. Not to get drunk. Especially not with all those meds inside your system.”

“Yeah, well, you keep saying that there are lots of drugs in my system, but I’m not feeling anything yet,” Four argued, and One imagined the little crinkle between his brow, his bushy eyebrows pulled together as he copied Five’s frown. “A little beer isn’t going to hurt, especially when I’m on death’s door. What if it’s my last day on earth? Aren’t you going to let me have my last meal or something?”

“A beer hardly counts as a last meal,” Five scoffed. “And I like to think that you have more faith in me than that. I’m a good doctor. I haven’t let any of you down yet, have I? You’re not going to die. Not yet, anyway.”

Four sighed, and One pictured him worrying at his lip as he thought of the right thing to say. “Yeah, Amelia, I know. You’re a good doctor. You haven’t let any of us die yet. It’s just… god damn, this _fucking_ hurts.”

One cringed- both because he couldn’t stand the Ghosts using their past names, and also because if Four of all people was admitting he was in pain, then he wasn’t lying. One probably hasn’t hurt Four admit that he was in pain… ever.

“I know, Billy,” Five said, and her voice was soft. One imagined her running her hands through the curls that had tumbled over his forehead. Four always did like contact, and being touched with gentle hands. “But just hold in there, OK? It’ll get better soon. The painkillers will kick in, and then you won’t feel a thing.”

“I take it that you’re still not going to give me a beer?” Four sounded like a petulant child, and One couldn’t help but smile from where he was listening around the corner. That usually worked on everyone else, but never on Five. That never stopped him from trying though. “I don’t even have to drink it. You can just put it into my IV and flush it through my veins.”

“That may be the worst idea you’ve ever had, and you’ve come up with some pretty shit ones,” Five said, and One heard her heels clicking against the polished floor. “No beer. But I will give you this to drink.”

There was some shuffling, a clanking, then a pause. “This is a glass of water,” Four said, and he couldn’t hide the disappointment in his voice.

“Good detective work, Sherlock,” Five replied, and even though she was being curt, One could hear the smile in her voice. "Drink it. Maybe if I'm in a good mood when you wake up, you'll get a beer, but I want to get more fluids into you, and while you're awake I'd like you to be drinking water before I start shoving things into your veins. I can even get you a straw if you ask nicely."

"Oh, a straw would be _lovely,_ " Four replied, and ah- there was the snark in his voice that One was missing. "What about one of those tiny little paper umbrellas? Have you got one of those too?"

Before Five could reply, One hit the half-open door loudly with the palm of his hand and walked around the corner until he was in the middle of the room and could now see both Five and Four. "Glad to hear that someones feeling better."

He was no idiot, and it was clear to see that the mood in the room changed drastically when One entered. Four lowered his head, his hair covering his face as he clenched the cold glass in his lap with an iron grip. Five watched him with worried eyes before she smoothed out her skirt and turned her back to them to fiddle with some equipment on the counter. 

Nobody answered him, so One sat down on the edge of the bed and pursed his lips. "How's he doing, Five?" He addressed the question to her, mostly because he really didn't think that Four wanted to talk to him.

"Three fractured ribs, a severely broken right arm, mild internal bleeding, a suspected hemorrhage and a very worrying concussion," Five replied as she scratched something down on her clipboard. "All I can do for him now is for him to rest."

"That's a pretty long list," One said before he turned to One. "How you doing down there buddy?"

Now that One had spoken to him, he knew that Four would have no choice but reply, and he waited. Four licked his lips and said, "I've been through worse," his chin rose higher. "I'll survive."

"Good, that's good," One said gently, remembering Seven's warning to tread carefully. "I'm glad to hear it. You're a very valued member of this team and we wouldn't be the same without you."

Four looked down and away then, but One caught the glint of something broken in his eyes. "Yeah, uh, I uh, I'm not so sure I feel the same way about that, now."

One felt something sharp grow in his chest, and Five looked at Four with an incredibly concerned expression etched into her features. She was holding a glass beaker incredibly tightly in her hand, and One had a sneaking suspicion that she knew something that he didn't. 

"Uh, Five, could you leave us please?" One said, watching Four with as much intensity as he could muster. He knew the look on his face very well. It was the face he wore when they first met, and the face he wore whenever he was looking into certain doom and trying to hide his fear.

"Yeah, sure," Five said as she passed Four and pat him on the shoulder. "Make sure you finish that glass before I get back, or before you fall asleep."

And then she was gone, and they were alone, and Four still refused to look up and meet his eyes.

"Hey," One said and Four tensed. "What crawled up your ass and died, huh? What's the problem with you? You're _alive_ man, isn't that enough?"

"Yeah," Four said and the bitterness in his voice made One's blood boil. "Alive. Great."

One made a face. "Now what the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Finally, Four looked up, and One felt his heart shatter at the expression on his face. "Well, considering that I'm only alive because everyone had to stop what they were doing to come and save my ass, not sure I should be all too thrilled about surviving this mission."

"Oh, fuck off," One scoffed as he leant back and crossed his arms. "Are you really cut up about that?"

"Yeah," Four bit back. "I am. What's it to ya'?"

"You're a member of my team, Four. I don’t care what happens or how badly you fuck up, I’m not going to kick you out,” One said. “Like I said, you’re a valuable asset. There have been many times when I’ve thought that we’d all be dead if it weren’t for you. Remember _Florence_?”

Four still didn’t look convinced, and he bit his lip so hard that One was worried that he would make it bleed. “Maybe you _should_ kick me out. I mean, compared to everyone else, I’m the weak link. I’m the only one who hasn’t been good enough to take care of myself. Are you really sure you want me jeopardizing everything? Putting your team in danger?"

"Listen, kid, you've had a few rough scrapes, sure you've gotten into more than most of us, but you're doing more than the rest of us are." One frowned. "We shoot and run from people. You climb buildings and nearly drown and nearly die every minute of the day. I'd be shocked if some things didn't go wrong every now and then."

"That doesn't mean you had to come back for me," Four's teeth were grit. "You should have just left me. That's the rule, remember? You shouldn't break it just because I can't take care of myself."

Honestly, One couldn't understand where this was all coming from. And he couldn't understand the tortured look on his face either. "Yeah, that's the rule, but not if I can save you. If I can get to you in time, then I'm going to do everything in my power to do just that. That first time was different. If Seven wasn't there to stop me, you wouldn't have had a hope in hell of us waiting back for him to get the shot off. But the second time on the yacht was _different_."

Instead of answering, Four rose the glass to his lips and focused on finishing the water as Five had instructed. He had a white-knuckled grip on the glass. 

One wished that he knew what was going through Four's mind. That look on his face was something familiar and toxic. One hadn't seen it very often, but he _had_ seen it, and the fact that he was seeing it now didn't bode well. That was his _'I can't be here anymore and I need to get away'_ face, and while he had left a few times, for a couple of days or something, he always came back.

But if what he was saying now was what he truly felt, then One knew that if Four left, he probably wouldn't be coming back.

Something deep inside of him felt sorry for Four. He was the youngest of them by far, maybe Five a close second, but either way, he wasn't like Two or Three or Seven or even One. Five may have been a little older, but she was a doctor- she had obviously seen some fucked shit in her time. Four was just a skywalker, a kid who did parkour for fun, who grew up making a living from stealing things and selling them for more than they were worth. None of them had been forced to go through that. Even Three made a living out of being a hitman, killing people for money, but he did that out of choice, not out of necessity like Four did. One could never imagine having to turn to a life of petty crime to survive, even though Four had gotten rather skilled at it. He'd worked for his money, had built and invented things and grew an industry before he ever had to think about an income, and now he had it all without the need of paying taxes or bills. But Four never had any of that.

Besides, more than five people came to One's funeral, and every single one stayed to the end. Unlike those at Four's funeral. One had been there. It hadn't been a fun thing to watch. Especially considering that Four had been surprised that so many people attended, and wasn’t surprised at all when two out of the five attendees left early.

Sighing, One inched a little closer to Four, and didn’t miss the way he tensed. “Listen, Four, I’m not going to pretend like I know what the hell is going on in that messed up head of yours, but I want you to know- no, I _need_ you to know- that it’s alright to need help every now and then. We’re a team. You’re in more danger than the rest of us all the time. If you compare our roles and your role in the team, it sort of adds up that you might need help more. You’re carrying more of the load. I wouldn’t trust Three to handle the things I charge you with.”

Thankfully, that got a smile out of Four, and One was glad for it. He had such a nice face, and it was better when he smiled. “I’m still surprised that you trust Three with a _gun_.” he said, but his smile was quickly replaced with a frown. “It doesn’t matter. I still don’t deserve to be in your team- I fuck up too much. It’s not worth me ruining-”

“Alright kid, shut up, that’s enough of that,” One barked and one slunk backwards. “Believe me, if I thought you were dead weight or a weak link or whatever else you’re going to call yourself, I wouldn’t have you in the team. I’d have kicked your ass out of here ages ago. But I haven’t. You know why? Because you’re not any of those things. You messed up. So what? Everyone fucks up. What about when Three lost one of the filters on his gas mask in Hong Kong? Or when he got into that car crash in Turgistan? Or when Two nearly died in Florence? Or when Six _did_ die in Florence? You haven’t screwed up that badly yet. And here’s the thing- I was going to leave you. But the others convinced me not to, and thank fuck I listened to them because if we didn’t have you in Turgistan, we would have been fucked.”

“Yeah, alright, I get it,” Four snapped, slapping One’s hand away when he reached for him, making One’s eyebrows rise into his hairline. Four craved contact like an addict craved drugs. The last thing One ever expected him to do was slap away contact like that.

“Do you?” One shook his head and hated the way Four blinked too hard and looked away too fast. “Because I’m not sure that you do. Listen, Four- I will never leave you behind if I have the opportunity to go back for you. Understand? That rule only applies to lost causes. Not for people that we can save. And that goes for every fucking member on this team. Do you understand?” Four didn’t answer. “Fine, be like that. But I’ve got to get back to work.” One stood, and Four bit his lip, and One knew that he was about to lose it, so he turned his head away and made for the door. “You better make sure that you finish that glass before Five comes back because you know that if you don’t she’ll kick your ass.”

He was cornered in the hallway by Two, who had rushed down the hallway to stop him before he got too far. “What did you do?” she demanded. “He looks like a puppy you just kicked.”

“God!” One threw his hands up in the air. “Why does everyone think that I’ve done something to him? I’m not that much of an asshole.”

Slowly, Two let go of him and backed away. “It’s just that… Amelia said that Billy wasn’t doing so well and that he wasn’t very happy when you walked in. I just wanted to be sure.”

“Well tell _Five_ to mind her own business because _Four_ is fine,” One grit out. “For fuck sake, they're numbers. Why is it so hard to use everyone’s numbers around here? Last I checked, everyone could count to fucking ten. Do you do it to annoy me? Because let me tell you, it’s fucking working.”

Two looked at him strangely for a few too-long moments before she pulled away completely. “It’s been a long day,” she said, and her voice was thick and heavy. 

“Yeah,” One sighed, resting his head against the back wall with a _thump!_ “It really has.”

“Get some sleep,” she suggested. “I’ll look after Bil- _Four_ if you’re worried.”

“I wasn’t,” One said as he walked away from the very awkward conversation. “But thanks, I guess.”

Truth was, he _was_ worried, more than he’d ever admitted, but he’d take that secret to the grave a second time if he had to. Four was a big boy. He could take care of himself. And well, if he couldn’t, One and the rest of the Ghosts would be there to take care of him instead.


End file.
